UK's Cameron: Israel Should Think Before Further Action in Rafah 

12 February 2024, Palestinian Territories, Rafah: Palestinians inspect the ruins of Al-Huda Mosque, which was destroyed following an Israeli bombing on the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, amid the ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement. (dpa)
12 February 2024, Palestinian Territories, Rafah: Palestinians inspect the ruins of Al-Huda Mosque, which was destroyed following an Israeli bombing on the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, amid the ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement. (dpa)
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UK's Cameron: Israel Should Think Before Further Action in Rafah 

12 February 2024, Palestinian Territories, Rafah: Palestinians inspect the ruins of Al-Huda Mosque, which was destroyed following an Israeli bombing on the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, amid the ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement. (dpa)
12 February 2024, Palestinian Territories, Rafah: Palestinians inspect the ruins of Al-Huda Mosque, which was destroyed following an Israeli bombing on the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, amid the ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement. (dpa)

Israel should stop and think seriously before taking any further action in Rafah, British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said on Monday, after airstrikes in the southern Gaza city that is the last refuge of about a million displaced civilians.

Local health officials said 67 Palestinians were killed and dozens wounded in the airstrikes, under the cover of which Israel freed two hostages.

Asked about the situation in Rafah and whether Israel had gone beyond international law, Cameron told reporters: "We think it is impossible to see how you can fight a war amongst these people. There's nowhere for them to go."

"We are very concerned about the situation and we want Israel to stop and think very seriously before it takes any further action. But above all, what we want is an immediate pause in the fighting and we want that pause to lead to a ceasefire."



WHO Sends Over 1 Mln Polio Vaccines to Gaza to Protect Children 

Displaced Palestinians, who fled their houses due to Israeli strikes, look out from a window as they take shelter, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, July 24, 2024. (Reuters)
Displaced Palestinians, who fled their houses due to Israeli strikes, look out from a window as they take shelter, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, July 24, 2024. (Reuters)
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WHO Sends Over 1 Mln Polio Vaccines to Gaza to Protect Children 

Displaced Palestinians, who fled their houses due to Israeli strikes, look out from a window as they take shelter, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, July 24, 2024. (Reuters)
Displaced Palestinians, who fled their houses due to Israeli strikes, look out from a window as they take shelter, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, July 24, 2024. (Reuters)

The World Health Organization is sending more than one million polio vaccines to Gaza to be administered over the coming weeks to prevent children being infected after the virus was detected in sewage samples, its chief said on Friday.

"While no cases of polio have been recorded yet, without immediate action, it is just a matter of time before it reaches the thousands of children who have been left unprotected," Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in an opinion piece in Britain's The Guardian newspaper.

He wrote that children under five were most at risk from the viral disease, and especially infants under two since normal vaccination campaigns have been disrupted by more than nine months of conflict.

Poliomyelitis, which is spread mainly through the fecal-oral route, is a highly infectious virus that can invade the nervous system and cause paralysis. Cases of polio have declined by 99% worldwide since 1988 thanks to mass vaccination campaigns and efforts continue to eradicate it completely.

Israel's military said on Sunday it would start offering the polio vaccine to soldiers serving in the Gaza Strip after remnants of the virus were found in test samples in the enclave.

Besides polio, the UN reported last week a widespread increase in cases of Hepatitis A, dysentery and gastroenteritis as sanitary conditions deteriorate in Gaza, with sewage spilling into the streets near some camps for displaced people.